1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic security tag system for preventing the theft of portable articles such as consumer electronics. In particular, this invention relates to an electronic security tag system having an adhesive electronic tag affixed to an article to be monitored and connected to an electronic monitoring system that sounds an alarm if the tag is broken or disconnected from the system.
2. The Prior Art
It is known to protect articles against theft by attaching an anchor to the article and attaching one end of a cable or cord to the anchor. The other end of the cable or cord is attached to a fixed support so that the article can only be moved a limited distance from the fixed support. The anchor is usually plastic and has an adhesive backing layer to attach the anchor to the article. The adhesive is strong enough so that a thief cannot readily peel the anchor from the article to detach the cable from the article. If the anchor cannot be readily peeled away from the article within 30-60 seconds, then this deters most thieves from trying to remove the anchor and steal the article.
The problem with this type of system is that a thief can still easily steal the article by cutting the cord attached to the anchor. An electronic sensor system connected to an anchor is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/378,040 to Rand et al. This system has a hexagonal anchor attached via a wire to an electronic alarm system. If the anchor is removed or the wire is cut, an alarm sounds from the alarm system. The alarm system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,857 to Rand, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.
While this system is effective for protecting larger items having irregular surfaces, it would be desirable to have an electronic security monitoring system of this type in which the sensor part of the mechanism can be wrapped around the article to be monitored. In addition, it would be desirable to have a system that could prevent not only theft of the item but also prevent thieves or vandals from opening certain items such as cameras.